Bulls Likely to Win This 'Tug-of-War' Market: Strategist

The markets have seen some bumps in the road, but expect the uptrend to prevail as there are no major signs of a reversal ahead, according to Mark Tepper, managing partner and co-founder of Strategic Wealth Partners.

“We’re looking at this as a tug-of-war kind of market—on the one side you have the issues in the Middle East, which aren’t going away quickly and on the other side, there are investors with cash on the sidelines and they’re viewing each and very one of these pullbacks as buying opportunities,” Tepper told CNBC.

Tepper likes the energy sector, but not necessarily the big energy companies.

“We want to be long inflation so we want to be long the energy sector and minimize exposure to those sectors where there could be some margin compression such as consumer staples and emerging markets,” he explained.

In the meantime, Mike Rubino, CEO of Rubino Financial said investors should be concerned about oil prices trading above $100 a barrel.

“The American consumer is already stressed and with the increased cost of oil and gas stifling off profits and spending. I think new investors should hold off and current investors should be careful,” he said. “I’d keep cash until the Middle East calms down a little bit.”